Method for producing emulsoids



E. E. WERNER.

METHOD FOR PRODUCING EMULSOIDS. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 6, 1920.

1A67910 Patented Feb.14,1922. I

- ZnMenifion: Ermsf Werner.

Atty;

UNHTE STATES ERNEST E. WERNER, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

METHOD FOR PRODUCING EMULSOIDS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 14%, 1922.

Application filed December 6, 1920. Serial No. 428,504.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNEST E. WERNER, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have inventednew and useful Improvements in Methods for Producing Emulsoids, of

.which the following is a specification.

points within a dispersion medium. This p effect is due to the areliterally tearing ofli' infinitesimal particles of the metal, particlesso small as to maintain themselves in suspension, and this investigatorthereby produced his well-known metal colloids of platinum, silver, etc.I have found by experiment, and by practical operation, that the Bredigeffect may 'be produced by purely mechanical means. I have illustrated,diagrammatically, in the accompanying drawing, a simple and in partwell-known form of apparatus which may be used for practicing myinvention. In said drawings,

Figure 1 is a'view in cross-section of a circular container with myimproved emulsifying plate mounted for rotation therein and showing twoliquids therein, of different specific gravities as they would appearbefore rotation of the plate;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure l and showing the formation by theliquid of a symmetrical inverted cone, as the result of the rapidrotation of the relatively smooth plate, and also illustrating therelative positions of the two liquids at the early sta es of dispersion;and

' {igure 3 is a view similar to the preceding figures and illustrating ameans for supplying oil or other liquid of a lower specific gravity thanthe liquid constituting the dispersion medium.

In the practice of my method, I utilize a rapidly moving plate 1 mountedon the bottom of a shaft 2 which, in turn, is mounted for rotationcentrally of a circular container 3, the shaft 2 being rotated in anysuitable manner, as by being provided with a pulley 4 on its upper end,rotated by a belt 5. The thickness of the plate is of no consequence aslong as the said plate is capable of revolving and maintaining itself ina running balanced condition horizontally and as long as the said plateis capable of moving within the dispersion liquid with the minimumamount of agitation of the said liquid, or, in other words, with theminimum amount of stirring effect to the liquid. A plate immersed withina liquid and maintained at a fairly high peripheral speed, say, abovetwo-thousand feet per minute, within. a suitable container of properroportions, will produce, by gyration, a ltyphoon effect, the liquidbeing maintained in the approximate form shown in Figure 2, in which thedispersion medium is indicated by the numeral 6, and the lighter liquidor oil by the numeral 7. The inverted apex of the cone moves at asomewhat higher speed than the superimposed base, the entire cone,however, maintaining its perfect symmetry. AS is obvious, the lagbetween the liquid in contact with the plate and the plate itself willbe very reat since the plate is relatively smooth. The preferable formof plate which I use in the, practice of my method is one that isperfectly fiat, round and highly polished. Such a plate, while to thetouch and eye appearing perfectly smooth, would nevertheless, whenviewed or visualized in microscopic cross-section, have a highlyserrated surface, the nature and degree of the serrations depending, ofcourse, upon the degree of polish and nature of the metal.

With proper speed of the plate and a suitable quantity of liquid withinthe container, the shape or dimensions of the liquid cone is so adjustedas to leave a space in the center of the disc 1 into which space may befed a liquid, as shown in Figure 3, by means of a pipe 8 leading from acontainer 9, and controlled by a stop-cock 10. This liquid will becarried by centrifugal force towards the periphery of the disc" whilehaving superimposed upon itself the hydrostatic presand its serrations.

. illustrated in Fi ure 1, is observed. The

water, or other so vent 6 either with or without a protective colloid,is introduced into the container 3 and a film of oil, 7, to be dispersedis floated upon the top of the liquid. When the disc 1 is put intooperation and the conical form of the liquid established, the naturaltendency is for the heavier liquid 6, this being either the dispersionmedium or the properly formed emulsion, to maintain itself, due tocentrifugal action, in proximity to the walls of the container; whereasthe lighter liquid, in this case, the oil 7, will maintain itself on thesurface of the cone, as shown by Figure 2, and flowing downward, come incontact with the plate to be at least in part disrupted and therebydispersed, and the free oil, will again tend to maintain itself on thesurface of the cone to be re-exposed to the dispersing action untilwithin a very brief time, a perfect emulsoid is produced which willreadily pass through a filter having interstices of approximately onemicron, and, which will exhibit under the microscope a vigorous Brownianmovement such as corresponds to a particle diameter of one micron orless.

Thus it will be seen that the effect accomplished by Bredigs electricalmeans is accomplished by purely mechanical means by the practice of mymethod, and under suitable conditions to the same extent. Whenemulsifying, say, water and oil. the viscosity the suspension liquid isat times an important factor, and this may be properly regulated by theaddition of, say, gumarabic, dextrin, or milk. For filtration, or theexhibition of the Brownian movement, it may be necessary, in certainforms of emulsion, due to their viscosity as produced, to subsequentlydilute them to obtain these phenomena.

I am aware that-the term serrated as above used, applies more properlyto an edge than to a surface; and when using the term serrated in thespecification or claims, I mean the microscopic appearance of acrosssect-ion of the of the periphery.

It is, furthermore, obvious that a solid or semi-solid substance may besubjected to the abrasive action of the disc at the. circumferentialline where cone and plate make contact when in operation, and, due to ase-- lected form of serration, produce particles sufiiciently small tocome within the scope plate and not the serrations of dispersedsystenis, thus truly producing, mechanically, redigs electrical effect.

,I am aware of the fact that so calledsecure, mechanically, Bredigseffect by causing the mlnimum agitation of the liquid,

maintaining it in a symmetrical form, a pro-' cedure which is the exactopposite in principle to the' theory and action of homo enizers and thevarlolls mixing and emulsifying devices. I may explain further that theresults secured by the practice of my method are due, to a large extent,to the fact that oil adheres to, and difl'uses over the surface ofmetal, to a reater extent than does water, and this exp ains, I believe,the rapidity with which, and the degree to which emulsification occurs,as, in the rotation of the disc a microsco ic film of oil, ormicroscopic particles of oiI, are continuously projected over thesurface of the disc beneath the superimposed body of the dispersionmedium, and thereby completely disrupted.

While I have spoken of the inevitable serrated condition of any polishedplate when visualized or contemplated from the microscopic stand-point,it will be a perfectly obvious procedure, and within the scope of minvention, to artificially serrate the plate with minute lines orgrooves resembling somewhat the lines of the refraction spectroscope inminuteness and design. Any character of serrated surface, withartificial serrations microscopic in character, and so disposed as toimpart the minimum amount of agitation to the liquid, for example,concentrically, might be used for my purpose.

In the use of the form of apparatus shown in the drawing, a peripheralspeed of the disc 1, of two-thousand feet per minute, will suffice forliquids of low viscosity; liquids of higher viscosity'will naturallycall for a higher peripheral speed of the disc. In the commercial formof apparatus, a disc for treating one hundred gallons of liquid wouldhave adia'meter of from twelve to eighteen inches and the container, adiameter substantially three times that of the disc. It may be stated,however, that the speed of the disc will govern the action and not itsdiameter. However, it is desirable to keep the apex of the liquid coneof relatively small diameter to obtain the maximum abrasive action ofthe disc.

I wish it to be understood that a factor in the novelty of my method andone which distinguishes it from prior methods, resides in the fact thatmy dlsc produces, mechanically, in the first instance, particlessufliciently minute to be properly termed colloidal, within thedispersion medium, so that the particles are immediately surrounded andsuspended at the time of their production, Within the dispersion medium,and tend to arrange themselves in zones coincid ing with the degree oftheir dispersion.

Finally, it should be stated that the successful practice of my methodin forming an emulsoid, is dependent upon the use of two substances tobe emulsified, b tween which a wide difference in specific gravitiesexists. This is necessary in order that the substance to be suspended inthe dispersion medium will float upon the latter as a distinct layer orstratum during the movement of the liquids produced by the rotation ofthe plate, and thus be brought into contact with the plate in advance ofthe area of contact of the dispersion medium with the plate. Thisinsures that the lighter substance, usually oil, or a substance of anoily nature, will engage, be diffused over and be disrupted by theplate, being thereby continuously interposed between the surface of theplate and the superimposed body of the heavier dispersion medium. Wherethe dispersion medium and the substance to be suspended therein do not,differ greatly in their specific gravities, such independent action uponthe lighter substance becomes impossible, there is less opportunity forthe plate to gradually produce by abrasion a suspension of the lightersubstance in the dispersion medium, and while, as. is known,

a very complete mixing, or inter-mixture, of the two substances willresult, a true emulsoid will not be produced. In other words, the twosubstances will become mixed, the lighter substance will be held insuspension in the dispersion medium out of contact with the plate, andthe latter will not have the opportunity of operating upon such lightersubstance in the manner herein described.

I claim 1. The method of emulsifying oil and a heavier liquid, whichconsists in continuously causing the oil, while in a state of flotationon the heavier liquid, to pass into contact with the exposed face of arapidly revolving, relatively smooth plate, by the movement of theliquids produced by the motion of the plate and characterized by asubstantial absence of agitation.

2. The method of emulsifying oil and a heavier liquid inclosed in acontainer, which consists in continuously causing the oil, while in astate of flotation on the heavier liquid, to pass into contact with theexposed face of a rapidly revolving plate, normally submerged-in theheavier liquid and having a relatively smooth surface, by the movementof the liquids produced by the motion of the plate and characterized bya substantial absence of agitation.

3. The method of emulsifying oil and a heavier liquid inclosed in acontainer, which consists in rapidly revolving a plate having arelatively smooth surface and normally submerged in the heavier liquid,to produce by gyration, a typhoon whirl and cause the 011, while in astate of flotation, to form the wall of the resulting liquid cone and tobe continuously passed, by the movement of the liquids, into contactwith the exposed surface of the plate until complete emulsifica tion hasoccurred.

4. The method of emulsifying oil and a heavier liquid inclosed in acontainer, which consists in producing a typhoon whirl of the liquids,with minimum agitation thereof, by rapidly revolving a smooth-surfacedplate normally submerged in the heavier liquid, the motion of theliquids causing the oil, while in a state of flotation on the heavierliquid, to continuously pass into contact with the exposed surfaceof theplate until emulsification occurs.

5. The method of emulsifying oil and a heavier liquid inclosed in acontainer, which consists in continuously causing the oil, while in astate of flotation on the heavier liquid,.to pass into contact with theexposed portion of a rapidly moving abrasive surface by revolving aplate normally submerged in the heavier liquid and having a surface of asuflicient degree'of smoothness to produce, under centrifugal action, agyratory movement of the liquids in which the oil will form continuouslydiminishing strata within the liquid cone and the tWo liquids andresulting emulsoid will gyrate with the minimum of agitation.

6. The method of emulsifying oil and a heavier liquid Whichconsists inrapidly revolving a plate having a microscopic abrasive surface in thebody of the heavier liquid to thereby gyrate said heavier liquid andexsurface of said plate independently of the contact therewith of theliquid dispersion medium, whereby to disrupt the substance andsimultaneously cause its suspension in the dispersion medium. v

8. The method of producing an emulsoid posed surface of said plateindependently of of two immiscible liquids, which consists in thecontact therewith of the liquid disper- 1o rapidly revolving arelatively smooth plate sion medium to cause disruption of said in theheavier of said liquids, constituting lighter liquid and itssimultaneous suspenthe dispersion medium to-cause gyration of sion inthe dispersion medium.

the liquid above the plate and exposure of e In testimony whereof, Ihave hereunto set ortion thereof,-and simultaneously feeding my hand.

the lighter liquid into contact with the ex ERNEST E. WERNER.

